Never Too Late
by Professor Maple
Summary: •••Original Character Story••• (Takes place about 10 years before the Anime) Find out if it's really "Never Too Late" as Andy continues his crazy adventure. Chapter 8 is Up, Johannes Explains it all! Please R+R
1. Meet Andy.

Wood grain.  
  
Fascinating stuff, wood grain. If you stare at it long enough, anyway. The patterns, the waves, the shading, the subtle differences. He sat, head buried in his hands, at the counter of the Pokemart. There hadn't been any customers yet today. Or yesterday. Or this week. For three months he had been trying to make a living managing a small Pokemart at the base of Mt. Moon. It seemed like a good idea at the time, anyway. You know, trainers are going in for a half-day hike through there, they might want to stock up, right? Well, he was right. Too bad they all stock up at the Pokemart in Pewter. At least it was the middle of the week. Business was always a little better on weekends.  
  
Wood grain. It always comes back to the details, doesn't it? The way the light sinks into the indentations…the waves. The fading in certain areas. Details. He noticed things like this. The scuff marks on his counter from where the delivery man puts the boxes every other Thursday. The slight bends under the spot where the cash register used to be, before he rearranged the shop out of sheer boredom.  
  
Andy was 28 years old, 7 years removed from his graduation from the Kanto branch of Earl's Pokemon Academy, and 6 Years removed from his failed attempt to open his own Pokemon school. Andy hated kids. Why he thought he could teach them…he'd probably never know. He had been bouncing around from town to town, doing odd jobs, helping out in Pokemarts and Pokecenters. He had even applied for gym trainer status, but was rejected on account of the fact that he had no Pokemon, nor any desire to catch them.  
  
("Why can't you just…give me some?"  
  
"You can't be serious.")  
  
Wood grain. It occupied him, while he mulled over his regrets. Not becoming a trainer at 10…or 11…or 12…or ever. Maybe it was his independence. The fact that he didn't ever want to have to rely on someone else…something else…to get him out of trouble. He'd rather just stay out of the trouble in the first place. Maybe it was his impatience. Pokemon were worse than kids. They need all your attention, they can't do anything unless you spend hours upon hours teaching it to them, and they can't even speak. Maybe it was his rebelliousness. He thought it was much cooler to be the one kid who didn't want to be a trainer. It set him apart, right? Yeah…it set him apart, all right. Set him apart from the kids who went on to enjoy life. Set him apart from the successful. It was really 'cool' to run your own Pokemart…and drive it bankrupt in a few months because of stupid planning. He rocked back in his chair, for no other reason than to force him to stop staring at the wood grain of the countertop. This was not a rocking chair however, and the hind legs of the rusty metal stool began to wobble under his weight. He felt this happening beneath him, and shifted his weight to counter-balance the wobbling. Unfortunately, the shift in weight caused the back legs to slip a little in the soft earth that comprised the floor behind the counter. (he didn't have enough money when he built this place to have the entire thing floored) The chair shot forward out from under him, leaving Andy on his back, and in the dirt. He stayed there for a few minutes…longer than he probably should have, considering how much his back was hurting…but there wasn't much else to do, so he figured he'd save "getting up" for when he got really REALLY bored.  
  
Besides, dirt proved to be almost as engrossing as wood grain.  
  
He poked around in it for a while, pushing his index finger back and forth, lightly and with a little more force, uncovering lighter and darker patches, softer and more granulated areas. Wet and dry. He allowed his other fingers to join the fun, and he raked the dirt for a while, letting his thoughts drift back to where they always did…regrets. Never telling Erika how he felt back in school. He could go see her…he figured…but she was going to be a gym leader now, and he was a…dirt raker. Giving up on so many things in his life, because they didn't work at first, and he would just grow impatient with them.  
  
His self-deprecating thought process was interrupted (thankfully) by his sudden inability to rake any more. He looked down, and realized that he had worn a hole a good seven or eight inches into the ground. Peering into the hole, Andy saw something absolutely remarkable. The ground had become quite hard, with a creamy tan hue, and a spiral pattern engraved into it. Was it the floor of a former establishment? No…he had bought recently-excavated land. There used to be boulders here. Was it some sort of tribal artifact from a period long forgotten? Maybe there was a tunnel buried deeper underground… and this was the roof? Scrambling to his knees from the twisted position he had been occupying previously, he began prodding the ground with his fingers.  
  
He kept digging outward around the strange…almost shell-like texture, trying to find an edge. He finally found one after getting a foot or so further towards the counter, and was surprised to find that it was round. He dug the opposite side, and found another edge. No wonder it felt shell- like. This was a shell. Ignoring the pain in his back, he rushed to his feet and lifted the shell out of ths hole. Andy slapped a "Closed" sign on the door, (like it mattered) locked it, and started off towards the Pewter City Pokemon Museum. There had to be someone there who knew what this thing was, right? Running as fast as he could without harming the strangely-heavy shell, he maneuvered his way through the dirt maze that comprised the path that stretched from Pewter to Mount Moon.  
  
"Hey! You're not wearing shorts!" yelled a young trainer from behind a row of bushes. He was waiting to ambush travelers and coax them into battling him.  
  
"It's October, kid. Of course I'm not." Andy replied, and hurried past him, ignoring the boy's request for a battle.  
  
A few hundred feet later, he was at the entrance to Pewter City. The museum was located on the outskirts of the drab municipality, which is too bad. It could breathe some life back into the area if more people knew about it. He slowed his pace as he neared the entrance…and grew quite discouraged when he saw the sign..  
  
"Admission - $500"  
  
He placed the shell on the ground and felt around in his pants pockets to see if maybe…just maybe he had some cash left from last week's few sales. A shopping list, a receipt for a pair of socks he had just bought, a few notes to himself reminding him of various things…but no money. He walked closer to the gate, hoping that someone would notice that he was carrying something…that may or may not be important. Someone did notice.  
  
"Whoa! What's that?" The shouter was a man, maybe in his early 40's; quite skinny, with thick glasses and shoulder-length black, straggly hair. "That's Omanyte!! OMANYTE!!"  
  
Andy thought he had some sort of valuable mineral for a second. "Armenite?" he asked.  
  
"Here! Come here!! NOW!" he ran out from behind the turnstile that guarded the entrance to the museum, and escorted (pushed) Andy to a back entrance that had been hidden from his view. The museum attendant knocked once…twice…………then a third time after a short pause. The steel door opened, and another skinny man with glasses…this one with shorter hair and a lab coat…stood in the doorway, jaw dropped, eyes wide open.  
  
"oh………oh my……….." he stuttered as he drew closer and closer to the shell, still in Andy's arms. Adjustiing his glasses, he continued muttering to himself "yes……….yes, very much…………..oh…………..oh yes……………..oh this is wonderful………….."  
  
"what….." began Andy, only to be cut off by the man in the lab coat again.  
  
"WHAT? WHAT! You don't know what this is? This is…was….could be….an Omanyte Shell."  
  
"what's….armanite?"  
  
"Omanyte, not 'armanite.' O.M.A.N.Y.T.E." He spelled it out "It was one of three known species of prehistoric Pokemon. Long believed to be extinct, no recent traces of them had ever been found before now. We had seen fossils in the past, but never any actual shell. "This shell would…" he tapped the shell with his fingernail "…should…have disintegrated ages and ages ago." He reached for the shell with both arms extended. "May I?"  
  
Cautiously, Andy handed the shell over to the scientist, who nearly doubled over when he let go.  
  
"…..heavy……too…..heavy……" Andy dropped to his knees and placed his hand underneath the shell, supporting it from the bottom.  
  
"…thank you. This is far too heavy to be merely a shell. Take this to a Pokemon Center. I think you may have found yourself an Omanyte."  
  
"……you mean…." Andy gazed quizzically at the man, one eyebrow raised higher than the other. "……A live one?"  
  
"You'll find out soon, won't you. If so, this would make an amazing addition to your Pokemon collection."  
  
"I…don't have a Pokemon collection."  
  
"Well…." Replied the scientist, not expecting that response. "…it's never too late to start one. But if you don't want it, we'd love to have it here at the museum…."  
  
Andy turned away from the scientist without acknowledging his last comment. What to do……Was it really "never too late?" Or did this thing belong here at the museum? Was it even alive? If so, how did it stay like this? What happened to it? Was it really "never too late?" Could he take care of this thing? Did he even want to try? Should he sell it? Was it really "never too late?"  
  
……………  
  
"never too late……………" 


	2. Meet Andy's New Friend.

His mind raced as he walked briskly around the back of the museum to reach the more commonly used entrance to Pewter City. What would he do if this…thing were alive? Did he have the patience to deal with a companion? It might make the days at the shop go a little faster. Besides, if this thing were as rare as those museum people said it was, I'm sure I could find someone who'd trade for it. But he was getting way ahead of himself. He didn't even know if this thing was alive or not. It may just be a heavy shell. Maybe there's some mud at the bottom or something. Yeah. It was probably just some dirt. Or something. The few townspeople who were outside gave him strange glances as he carried the large spiral shell through the center of town, down to the southern edge near the Viridian Forest, where he knew the Pokecenter was.  
  
He stepped into the domed structure and it was like walking into a whole new world. Sure, he had made deliveries to Pokecenters before, and he had been inside them and everything…but he had never brought a Pokemon to one before.  
  
"Uhm…I think this Pokemon…uh…I think this might be a Pokemon…or something…Uhm…I think this…" He had trouble speaking, both because of the trouble he was having lifting the heavy shell onto the counter, and because he didn't really know what to say anyway.  
  
"Is that your Pokemon?" she asked sternly, interrupting his stammer.  
  
"no…yes…kinda."  
  
"Kinda?"  
  
"Kinda."  
  
"….Kinda?"  
  
"Okay, here's the deal. I run the Pokemart right outside Moon. I fell out of my chair and started digging…"  
  
"You fell out of your chair?"  
  
"Yeah, that's not important. I was digging and I found…"  
  
"Why did you start digging when you fell out of your chair?"  
  
"I just did. I was bored. I don't know. Ignore that. Anyway, so I find this shell, and I take it to these guys at the museum and they think it's alive."  
  
"alive?"  
  
"alive."  
  
"So it's yours?"  
  
"No…maybe…yeah…….yes. Yes, that is my Pokemon."  
  
"Can I have its Pokeball?"  
  
"It doesn't have one. I carried it like this."  
  
"Well, that would tell you if it was alive or not." She fished around in the drawers behind the counter for a few moments, and retrieved a sphere, half red, half white, from one of the cluttered storage spaces. "Here…" she said. "…toss this at it..." handing the ball to Andy. He looked at the ball in his hand. He moved it back and forth against his palm, running his thumb across the black button. It felt…weird.  
  
'Just……throw it?"  
  
The nurse gave him a very confused look, and was slow to respond. "…yes?"  
  
"I've never…you know. I've never done this."  
  
"aw!! HOW CUTE!!!" she yelled, as Andy's face turned beet red. "Your first Pokemon!" Well here, let me show you. Usually you do this to a wild Pokemon after you've battled it. Just tap the black button once.." Andy held the ball in his left hand, and slowly moved his right over, grazing the button with his index finger. "Harder." She said, and he poked the ball quickly. It felt warm in his hand…not hot, just warm, and the white section of the ball became almost translucent, showing a grid of wires and microchips. Andy didn't know whether to be scared and push the ball away from himself, or to be curious and inspect it more closely. Instead of doing either, he just stared blankly at Nurse Joy. "Now toss it at your Pokemon." He pulled his arm downward, keeping the ball away from his legs, and lobbed it underhand at the counter on which the Omanyte shell sat. The ball hit the counter and bounced once in the direction of the shell, and opened in a flash of red light. When the blinding flash died down, the only remaining light was a thin beam that appeared to be connecting the shell and the opening of the ball. Slowly, the shell began to dematerialize…fading into the background of machinery and wall…and after a couple of seconds (which felt like hours to Andy) it finally had disappeared completely.  
  
"I…have…a Pokemon?"  
  
"Oh YAY!" said Nurse Joy, as she ran around the counter and flung her arms around Andy, hugging him. She seemed an awful lot happier than he was. He stood gawking at the ball on the counter, with an expressionless face and an ecstatic girl clinging to him. "I'm so happy for you!" she giggled.  
  
"I…have…a Pokemon." He said, a little more sure of himself this time.  
  
Joy pulled herself off of him, and ran to the counter to grab the ball. "Let me just heal this little guy right up for you!" She placed the ball in the top left hole in a machine that had five other similar holes. She pressed a sequence of buttons, and some lights flashed while the Omanyte's Pokeball sank into the machine, and resurfaced again. "I hope it's okay..' she said, handing the ball back to Andy. He held the ball in his hand. It felt the same as it did before…slightly warm. "So? Toss it!"  
  
"Same way as before?" he asked.  
  
"Yup."  
  
Feeling slightly more confident now, he tapped the button with his thumb, and dropped the ball to the ground. Same Red flash…totally different result.  
  
"Ahm."  
  
"whoa……"  
  
"whoa……"  
  
Joy and Andy looked at each other. Neither of them had ever seen anything like this before. The shell was exactly as it had been before, but oozing out of the hole at the bottom was a luminescent blue slime-like substance, and two huge, wide-open eyes. The slime formed itself into what seemed like feet…or at least tentacles, and the creature began to slide its way towards Andy.  
  
"Oh god…." Joy shrieked as she walked around to get out of its way. "it's bleeding!"  
  
"uh…" Andy didn't know how to react. He too noticed a translucent pinkish red substance coming out of the shell. Joy bent down, and touched the blood with her index finger. Holding the finger to her nose, she began to laugh. Andy was still unable to speak, but he looked at her for an answer.  
  
"Berry juice." She said. She placed her finger inside her mouth, and slid it back out, leaving it clean of the liquid. "Mystery Berry." He must have been using "withdraw" all this time, thanks to the berries.  
  
"Amnahm."  
  
Andy knelt down beside his Pokemon. His……Pokemon. He slowly reached out his hand and patted the shell. The Omanyte pointed its huge eyes up at him, and he felt a feeling…a strange tingly feeling…a conection.  
  
"hey little guy. Or…or girl." He spoke in a quiet, whisper-like tone. "I'm Andy." The Omanyte reached up with its top two legs/arms/tentacle things and held Andy's hand. He couldn't help but laugh. "It's nice to meet you too."  
  
"…never………too………..late……" he thought. 


	3. So...what now?

"Ahm. Amahmanm."  
  
As the bright blue arms wrapped around Andy's finger, he jerked backwards somewhat in a reaction to how cold and slimy they were, but he allowed the snail-like creature to keep its hold on it. It felt weird…the tentacles were slick, but not overly wet or sticky, and had a definite fine texture to them, almost like a tongue. The Omanyte's eyes were huge compared to the rest of him, and he seemed to have a surprised look about him at all times. Andy, being careful to let the Omanyte keep his finger, shifted his body around slightly, so that he could get a better view of his new Pokemon ………… his ……new……. Pokemon. Wow, that was weird.  
  
"So?" Asked Nurse Joy, returning from the counter with a small bowl of pellet-shaped food for the Pokemon. "What's its deal? How old is it? What does it know?"  
  
"What does it know?"  
  
"Yeah, like moves…attacks, you know."  
  
"I…don't know. How can I tell?"  
  
"Aim your 'dex at it, silly!"  
  
"My…decks?"  
  
"Oh my god, you don't even have a Pokedex? All trainers get them when they're starting out."  
  
"I've never been a trainer."  
  
"NEVER?"  
  
"never."  
  
"Well you HAVE to go see Oak then! He's the closest Pokemon Professor to here, down in Pallet. You know where that is, right?"  
  
"South of here, right?"  
  
"Right. Straight through Viridian."  
  
"Okay…" he said, pausing to remember those three words one more time.  
  
never  
  
too  
  
late.  
  
"…Looks like we're going on a bit of a trip." Andy stood up, and gestured in the direction of the door. "Come on, buddy! We're going to Pallet Town." He began to stride towards the archway that served as the entrance and exit for the building. He was so happy. Yeah, he was a bit old to be starting out as a trainer, but who cares? For the first time in his life, he was going to make a decision, and STICK to it. He was going to become a Pokemon Trainer. It couldn't be any worse than running a crappy little Pokemart, could it? And he did actually own the mart, so he could definitely use that to his advantage. He reached the door, and was about to open it and run out into his brand new world…  
  
"AHEM…Forgetting something?"  
  
"Oh god, I'm sorry Nurse Joy! Thank you so much for everything, and I'll stop by when we get back to Pewter!"  
  
"Not that. Him." She pointed to the ground, and Andy saw that his Omanyte…still trying to catch up…had only moved about two feet, sliding himself along the floor on his six tentacles.  
  
"Ah. Yes. Thank you." Quite embarrassed, Andy reached down to pick up his new friend and carry him on his shoulders. He lifted the Omanyte off the ground, held him high in the air…and attempted to balance the heavy shell on his shoulder. He let go of it…for a split-second, and it started to teeter off. He tried again, shifting it more towards the front. He let go of it…for a split-second, and again, it started to fall. "Okay, this is not going to work. Looks like you have to sit in the ball." He reached for his pocket, and pulled out the ball that Nurse Joy had given him, pressed the black button and recalled the Omanyte in a beam of bright red light.  
  
"And I would definitely recommend that you go to the Mart here in town and get some more pokeballs…and maybe a book or something, since you don't have a Pokedex yet."  
  
Andy nodded, and again picked up his stride as he walked through the door and out into the World of Pokemon. 


	4. Battle? But...How?

Andy walked with a hop in his step for the first time since…he couldn't even remember. Maybe it was nerves. Maybe it was excitement. Maybe it was his lunch disagreeing with him. Whatever it was, it made him feel different…and different was definitely good.  
  
"I wish I had a bigger Pokemart." He said…to his pocket. His Omanyte was in there, of course…safe and sound…and Andy didn't even know if he could hear anything in his Pokeball, but he talked anyway. "I never bothered to get any balls in stock, so we have to go buy…oh crap." Andy was thinking about how easy it would be to just run back to his own small Pokemart (more a shack with some potions than anything else) than to have to buy them from the mart here in Pewter, when he stopped dead in his tracks. Buying things requires money. A commodity that he was very short on at the time. He could attempt to sell back his stock of Potions and Antidotes and such that he had at his own place…but he'd get less than what he paid for them, and he'd be needing them in the future anyway. He could go back and mind the shop for a few days and hope for a few customers…but that would be maddening. Or… "Or we could battle." He said. It was customary for trainers to place a small wager on informal Pokemon battles, around these parts anyway. "But what can you do? I can't figure it out without a Pokedex….I can't get a Pokedex without going to Pallet...I can't get to Pallet without going through Viridian, and I can't do that without Pokeballs or some attacks for you…which I can't get without money…"  
  
"…which you can't get without battling."  
  
Andy whirled around to see who had been eavesdropping on him. Right beside him stood a relatively young man, at least a few years younger than Andy. His hair was darker and longer than Andy's, and he was a good few inches taller.  
  
"Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. I think I can help you." The young man spoke. He carried himself with a tremendous amount of confidence, and Andy was a little intimidated by this.  
  
"Hey, thanks…but uh…I don't know what…how…I don't really know how to battle, you know?"  
  
"Well, I can help you there too. I'm Lance, by the way."  
  
"Andy." He reached out to shake Lance's extended hand, and was quite surprised by the firmness of his grip. He pulled away, and reached for his Pokeball.  
  
"Okay, so what do you have here?" he asked, as Andy tossed the ball on the ground. The Pokeball hit the soft dirt of the path with a quiet thump, and in a blue burst of light, released the Omanyte. "Whoa…Omanyte."  
  
"AMANAMA!" the snail-like creature excitedly spoke, as it tried to reach up and grab Andy's hand again.  
  
"Omanyte, this is Lance. He's going to help us learn to battle!" Andy said to his bulge-eyed friend.  
  
"Ahmmmm" it said, and turned to face Lance.  
  
"I've always wondered about these guys. I read about them in school. There were rumors that a few of these and some Kabuto were still around. In non-fossilized form, I mean. I have an old amber from an Aerodactyl at my apartment. Wow. Where did you find it?"  
  
"He was in my shop, under the floor."  
  
"So you haven't had him long, I assume."  
  
"About an hour."  
  
Lance laughed. "And you don't know what level it's at, or what attacks it knows."  
  
"nope..."  
  
"Well th…"  
  
"WAIT! I do know one! Nurse Joy said it had used Withdraw!"  
  
"Okay, that's a start. Give it a command."  
  
"…..."  
  
"Say 'Omanyte, Withdraw.'"  
  
"Oh. Okay, Omanyte, Withdraw."  
  
The slimy blue creature hurriedly retreated into its shell, so that only a little bit of its two 'arm-like' tentacles could be seen.  
  
"Cool!" Andy said. "What's that do?"  
  
"That raises his defense. When he comes out, it'll be tougher for your opponent to hurt it in battles. It only works against physical moves though."  
  
"Physical moves?"  
  
"You'll find out more about this as you battle more. You're really that new at this?"  
  
"yeah…I've been a Pokemon…...I've been a Pokemon Trainer…" God, that sounded weird. "…For as long as I've had my Omanyte here."  
  
"Well, let's see if it knows anything else. I know from reading about these that they lived in caves under the ocean, and it certainly looks like a water-type, so lets see if it knows any water moves. Try a Water Gun."  
  
"Just…say it?"  
  
"Like you did with Withdraw."  
  
"Omanyte..Water Gun?"  
  
Omanyte came back out of its shell, cocked its head slightly, and wiggled its arms around a little.  
  
"Uh, Water Gun?"  
  
The Omanyte tilted its head back the other way, wiggled its arms again, and started dragging itself over towards Andy.  
  
"Withdraw?"  
  
This time the Omanyte stopped in its tracks and scurried back into its shell.  
  
"I don't think it knows that."  
  
"No…I don't think so either. What was it doing with its arms though?" queried Lance, as he squatted down to get a better look at the Pokemon, still withdrawn into its shell.  
  
"I don't know…"  
  
"Withdraw isn't going to help you much. It's only defensive. I hope this thing knows some offensive moves…"  
  
"AHM!" it said as it poked its head back out of the shell.  
  
"…because if this is a water type, and it knows a good water move, you could take on Flint. He runs the gym here in Pewter. He's tough, but he only uses Rock types, so Water works really well against him."  
  
"mmmmm" the Omanyte mumbled as it scrunched itself up.  
  
"What's it doing?" Andy asked.  
  
"I…I don't know." Replied Lance as they both stared at the Omanyte. The Pokemon was intently focusing on something, and it was almost shaking with concentration….  
  
"Omanyte?" asked Andy, checking to see if it was all right.  
  
"mmmmmmmMMMM!" It lifted its front tentacles…and a small bubble popped out.  
  
"Gas?!" questioned Andy.  
  
"Bubble." Lance laughed as he spoke. "It's a weak water attack, but it's at least something." The Omanyte looked very proud of iteself. "Not enough to battle Ol' Flint, but you could at least fight bugs and whatnot with it."  
  
"Omanyte! Bubble!" Andy had a giant smile on his face as he spoke. The Omanyte (with much less stress, now that it was a command from his trainer) released a stream of a few bubbles out into the air, then poked at them as they floated around him. "Cool!"  
  
"Yeah. Well, I wish I could stay, but I'm off to train for the Indigo Pokemon League. I won the tournament last year, and this year they say the Elite Four are going to be there to watch me. I need to really impress them. It was great meeting you though. Good luck to you two."  
  
"Thank you so much, Lance."  
  
"Hey, no problem. I wish I had some low-level Pokemon that were weak to water. I'd help get you some training. I have a Charmeleon, but it'd be a bit too tough for your little guy there."  
  
"No, you've helped us out enough. Don't worry about it." Andy waved goodbye as Lance walked off into the afternoon sunset, tossing his jacket around his shoulders as though it were a cape.  
  
"Next time I see you, we'll.….." Lance shouted as he turned back around to see Andy running to the path that led to Mount Moon, Pokeball in hand. "…battle." He turned back around and picked up his own pace. 


	5. Twist of Fate

"This might not be so hard after all" Andy thought to himself as he walked out towards the path he had sped down not more than a few hours ago. This was the path that led from Pewter City to Mount Moon, where Andy owned a sorry little excuse for a Pokemart. He had seen a few trainers hanging around on the path though, and he was going to try to defeat them in battle to make himself a bit of money. That Lance guy had been amazingly helpful. Andy learned that Omanyte had another attack, and (more importantly) he had been able to meet a real trainer. In fact, a champion trainer, if what Lance had said was true. He hoped that everyone would be that helpful, but Andy somehow doubted that this would be the case. He had almost reached the first turn in the maze-like path, when he heard a loud commotion beginning to hum behind him. He looked around, and spotted a large group of people standing in a field just south of him. He changed his direction, and walked quickly to see what all the noise was about.  
  
The crowd had already gathered when he strode up to the field. There must have been about 40 or 50 people, circled around what seemed to be two trainers engaged in some sort of large-scale battle.  
  
"I can't believe he's puttin' up this much of a fight!"  
  
"His Snorlax is no match for that Gyrados. He's way underleveled."  
  
"I heard this guy can do impossible things with that Snorlax of his. Once, against Misty.."  
  
"Pardon me, but who are you speaking about?" he interrupted, with genuine curiosity. He had never seen a "real" Pokemon battle, just little kids with pidgeys and rattatas.  
  
"Some guy. Calls himself Drew, or something like that. Sort of an urban legend 'round here. People all say they seen him do these weird tricks with that Snorlax. Say ain't nobody can beat him. He's up against some kid with a Gyrados at least 15, maybe 20 levels higher."  
  
Edging his way through the crowd, he saw the two trainers. Drew was closest to him, and the Gyrados trainer was a hundred feet or so out the other way. In between the two of them stood two of the most immense creatures Andy had ever seen. The Snorlax had to be at least seven or eight feet tall, and the Gyrados floating in mid-air was a good twenty feet long if it was an inch. Both trainers had the same confidence he had witnessed in Lance a few minutes ago, which did scare him a bit. If he was going to compete with these people, would he need that kind of self- assuredness? He directed his attention back to the battle when Drew spoke.  
  
"Going Nimbus. Hyper Beam, triple point. North." he said calmly.  
  
The massive Snorlax that flanked the trainer scrunched its face up, and fired a very thick Hyper Beam straight up into the metal-grey sky, missing the flying Gyrados by at least 30 feet.  
  
"Ha! You couldn't aim your way out of a paper bag!" remarked the opposing trainer, a young man whose voice sounded vaguely familiar to Andy. "Gyrados! Dragon Rage!" Drew laughed, knowing what a horrible strategic ploy it was to use a fixed-damage attack against a Pokemon with as high a resilience as a Snorlax. Gyrados Roared, spraying water everywhere from its mighty jaws, and unleashed a cloud of blue flame that encircled the Snorlax, and then died down.  
  
"Rest up." said the Snorlax's trainer, and upon hearing these words, the Snorlax dropped to the ground, then sat up briefly and waved to the crowd, who cheered wildly. Again, he collapsed backwards, this time entirely, and began to sleep.  
  
"Lying down on the job, eh?" quipped the other trainer. "Gyrados! Hydro Pump!" Again the legendary Dragon Pokemon reared back its head, but instead of producing a mild blue flame, brought forth two shots of super- concentrated water energy hurtling from its mouth, like they had been fired from cannons. Each shot hit the sleeping Snorlax, making its massive bulk jiggle a bit, and ricocheted off him, spraying the onlookers. Snorlax winced a bit at first, and then returned his expression to his usual smile. Confused at how the Pokemon survived the attack at all, let alone appeared happy about it, the far trainer looked at the Snorlax's trainer.  
  
"Leftovers." he said, with a grin, and looked up to the sky, which had begun to flicker a bit.  
  
"Okay, if that's how you want to play this, Gyrados! Hydro Pump! FULL POWER!" The dragon repeated its last performance, but reared back so far that its head was almost touching its tail, and lurched forward to get the most velocity on its attack. Again the shots were fired at the Snorlax, and again, he accepted the bath with ease.  
  
"Wake." said the man, and the Snorlax jumped to its feet. Trainer and Pokemon simultaneously looked at the sky, which had grown darker in a small patch above them. A larger smile grew on both of their faces.  
  
"Gyrados! Body Slam it!"  
  
"Buddy. Hyper Beam, Quarter Point Solid. 30 degrees west."  
  
As the Gyrados was charging it, the Snorlax again fired off a hyper beam, this one much thinner in diameter than its predecessor, and again it missed the Gyrados, and kept going into the clouds.  
  
"You are no match for...." the cooltrainer's statement was cut off by the boom of thunder and the crackle of lightning from overhead. A bolt of Hyper Beam-Charged electricity was streaking down the new Hyper Beam, which was acting like a lightning rod.  
  
"Lower it." said the man, and Snorlax angled his head slightly lower, so that the path of the oncoming lightning, following the path of the Hyper Beam, would strike the attacking Gyrados.  
  
"DODGE IT!" the trainer screamed, which brought another smile to the man's face. As the Gyrados dove towards the ground in a desperate attempt to avoid the lightning created by the Snorlax, he had accidentally fallen almost right into his lap.  
  
"Buddy! Body Slam! Reverse It!" shouted the man, and almost before he had even done so, the Snorlax, with amazing quickness and maneuverability for such a huge creature, sidestepped the falling Gyrados, grapped it by the tail, and whipped it back into the sky, using the Gyrados's kinetic energy against it to send it sailing into the stormclouds. As the Gyrados neared the clouds, another bolt of Electricity came shooting down from the sky at it, striking it directly and sending it reeling to the ground.  
  
"Gyrados. Return." said the other trainer, walking towards Andy's side of the crowd, defeated and deflated. "That was cheap. What would you have done if it wasn't a cloudy day?"  
  
"We'd have found another way to beat you." replied Drew, extending his hand to shake that of the man he had just beaten. "Seriously though, what was up with that Dragon Rage attack? Why on earth would you use that against a Snorlax?"  
  
"Honestly, I figured we had you beaten. I wanted to make it more even."  
  
"You should know us better than that, Lance." Drew replied, laughing.  
  
"Lance?" shouted Andy.  
  
"Andy!" he shouted back. Wow. Good thing Andy hadn't asked Lance to battle. Omanyte wouldn't have stood a chance against that Gyrados. "This is Drew. Drew, this is that guy I was just telling you about."  
  
"With the Omanyte?"  
  
"Yeah." Andy answered.  
  
"Whoa! Cool!"  
  
"Drew's been at this almost as long as I have, but he's working with this new Snorlax of his. That's why we were battling, trying to make it stronger. Not like it needed it or anything…"  
  
"Yeah, we're getting pretty tight, the two of us." Drew commented, as he looked over at his Snorlax…who was fast asleep, in spite of the little kids who were playing on him.  
  
"Someday you and that Omanyte will be like that." Lance asserted to Andy, who wasn't convinced at all.  
  
"I don't know…" he said, before being interrupted by a series of loud, brash shouts from the crowd. The three men spun around to see a few strangely-uniformed people; three men, one woman, pushing their way through the gathering of people.  
  
"Outta my way." Andy felt a strange force against his back, and his knees buckled, and he crumpled to the ground. Wincing in pain and unable to stand, he tried his best to make out the conversation.  
  
"That Snorlax is ours, kid."  
  
"No, this Snorlax was yours." He struck a very defensive pose, and whipped his arm around, Pokeball held out, recalling the Snorlax, and sending a few little kids tumbling to the ground. "It's mine now."  
  
"You have no right…" spoke the woman  
  
"He has EVERY right. After what you people did to it…" Andy recognized Lance's voice. After what they did to it? What did they do?  
  
"What we do with our Pokemon is no concern of yours, "champ." A man spoke again, this one louder than the others had been. He placed an extra sarcastic emphasis on the last word.  
  
"I don't care what you say, you're not getting him."  
  
"Kid, don't get involved with what you don't know. That Snorlax has…"  
  
"…Don't say anymore, Grunt. He knows too much already."  
  
This was the loud man again, clearly the leader. He knows too much already?? Andy did not want to be involved in whatever was going on here. Unfortunately for him…  
  
"Alakazam. KINESIS." Andy turned his neck to see this new Pokemon, but twisted his leg the wrong way, and screamed out in pain. "Shut up, wimp." All Andy could think about was how much his leg hurt. He was curled up on the ground, clutching his leg and gritting his teeth to stop from crying out anymore. He could hear voices, mostly the loud man, but couldn't make out any of what they were saying. The voices began to tail off…off…off, until they were barely audible. What was happening? Andy rolled himself over in time to see all Four uniformed people, Lance, Drew, and the Alakazam floating away in a huge transparent purple bubble. As he dropped his head back, he heard a soft slapping sound beside him. A Pokeball? He looked back up, and couldn't see much in the glare of the sun, but could almost see Drew giving him a low "thumbs up" sign at his side. Snorlax? The Pokemon these people was after…was now with Andy? Andy picked up the Pokeball, which had a crude "B" Scratched into it, and put it in his pocket. As the purple bubble floated out of sight, a hospital vehicle pulled up. Thankfully one of the other onlookers had noticed Andy's condition and called an ambulance. Andy's head spun with revolving pain and confusion as the vehicle made its way through the streets of Pewter City. Why did Drew throw that Pokeball to him? Was it that Snorlax? Would he ever be able to walk again? Who were those people? But the one that kept coming back to him was…What had he gotten himself into? 


	6. Trouble

The blaring siren rang through Andy's head as the ambulance raced through the streets of the town. The siren was louder than he was used to hearing from ambulances, but maybe that was because he was inside it. He felt a strong numbness in his left leg…then it faded…then he felt it in his right shoulder…then it faded. He felt himself rocking back and forth, precariously balanced between total delirium and just slightly dazed. He was beginning to get some strength back in his legs, and could manage to see clearly in short spurts, which he could feel getting longer. The pain was wearing off. Andy peered out the window, surprised to find himself quite low to the ground. He felt his eyes close, then open again, then close. He awoke again after a jolting sensation in his lower back, and was completely clear-headed for the first time in what seemed like forever. He reached up to scratch his head, but couldn't bring himself to follow through…as he raised his arm, he saw that his hands had been handcuffed together. "What?!" he said aloud.  
  
" So you can talk." Rang back a female voice from the front of the vehicle. It sounded sharper than Nurse Joy's – harsher. "Care to tell us what you did with the others? Or do we have to beat it out of you?"  
  
"…" Andy shook his head in amazement. Was he still dazed? Was he imagining this entire conversation? No, he felt fine…perfectly clear. He refocused his eyes from his mysterious handcuffs to the front of the car, where he expected to see a Nurse Joy, but instead saw an Officer Jenny. "Jenny?"  
  
"We're here. Don't move." she barked.  
  
Andy shifted in his seat, suddenly very uncomfortable, and even more confused.  
  
"I SAID, DON'T MOVE!" she shouted, while pulling a Pokeball from her hip, and holding it threateningly. Andy froze. "Now slowly, keep your hands in front of you…slowly…get out of the car." She opened the door, and Andy stepped out one foot at a time, watching her the whole time, making sure he was doing it right. He was too scared to try and work through his predicament logically.  
  
Officer Jenny escorted Andy through the halls of the police station. He had never been inside one before, and was amazed at the immaculateness of it. Even more so than the Pokemon Center. He didn't know what city he was in, he didn't know why he was here, he didn't know what Jenny was talking about. All he knew was that his arm hurt from Jenny leading him down the hallway, and the loud and persistent clicks of her shoes against the tile floor was giving him a headache. She withdrew a large keyring from her skirt pocket, and opened a heavy iron door. Practically throwing him inside and into an uncomfortable chair, she began questioning him.  
  
"Where are they?"  
  
"Where are what?"  
  
"WHERE ARE THEY?"  
  
"Jenny, I…"  
  
"OFFICER Jenny. You will address me properly, or I will…"  
  
"..That'll be enough, Jenny." A much calmer voice echoed through the cold room. Andy looked around to try and find the source, and was able to identify it as a speaker on the celing. "He's clearly disoriented. Take it slowly."  
  
"Fine…" she said to the speaker, then lowered her head and again addressed Andy. "The two men and their Pokemon. Where are they?"  
  
"What men?" he responded. Did she mean Lance and Drew? Or those men who had come and…wait. Something bad had happened. He began to regain his memories of the event that had transpired immediately preceding his trip here. "Lance and Drew?" he asked.  
  
"The trainers with the Snorlax and Gyrados who you abducted."  
  
"Abducted? I was on the ground with a broken leg. They were taken away by three guys and a girl in white suits in these big purple balls…"  
  
"Broken leg? Which is fine now?"  
  
"maybe not broken…" though it certainly felt broken at the time…odd. "…these people came and said something about that Snorlax…" the Snorlax! He had it! He quickly threw his hands to his belt to get the Pokeball that had been tossed to him…and found himself on the receiving end of Jenny's attack. She lunged at him, knocking his chair over, and pinning his arms to the ground.  
  
"DON'T MOVE."  
  
"I was only…"  
  
"You were going to pull something on me."  
  
"I wasn't"  
  
"You were. I could see it in your eyes."  
  
"I don't even know why I'm here." He whimpered, and she eased off his wrists a little. Andy was on the verge of crying, and she could sense it.  
  
"We have fifteen eyewitnesses that say you came into the field where two trainers were battling, you stole their Pokemon, and you somehow made the other trainers disappear."  
  
"I…no…"  
  
"you know? Well, that's why…"  
  
"No… I didn't……It was three men and a woman…in white costumes…"  
  
"He must have hit his head when that bystander tripped him." The voice spoke again. "Let him sit for a while."  
  
Without a word, she climbed off him, and leaving him on the ground, she walked out the door, slamming it shut behind her and re-locking it. How…What….It didn't make sense. It just didn't make sense. He hadn't done anything wrong, except take that Snorlax…and he didn't even remember picking it up. He didn't have it…he didn't even… "Oh…God…OMANYTE!" He jerked to his feet, and flung his arms frantically around his body, searching for his Omanyte, but without any luck. How had this happened? How did she have any eyewitnesses…who said that he had done anything but collapse in pain when…when he felt that strange sensation. Maybe this was all a dream…  
  
Dream…  
  
Dream………  
  
Dream………  
  
He closed his eyes, felt a slight tingling, and concentrated on trying to wake himself up, but when he opened them again he was still in the interrogation room, still cold, and still with no idea why he was there. That tingling though…it felt familiar…  
  
He closed his eyes again, and concentrated harder on sending a message to himself. "WAKE UP." He chanted in his mind, over and over…until the tingling came back, stronger than before. This was the same feeling he felt right before he…  
  
"AAAUUUUUGGGHHH!" Andy screamed in pain again, only this time it wasn't pain directed at one part of his body, it was all over…and it wasn't pain, so much as it was a prickly tingling sensation…and…his legs were….  
  
"OHMYGOD, MY LEGS…" Andy was seriously freaking out as he saw himself melting into the floor. His legs were no longer visible, and his torso was stuck in the concrete, trying to sink through…and the walls were collapsing onto him…and everything………………………  
  
…………………………………………went  
  
……………………………………………………………………………………black. 


	7. Where...What...When...How...WHY?

He awoke with a pounding headache, lying on his back. He opened his eyes slowly, careful not to make any sudden moves…he felt his arms…the cuffs were gone?  
  
"Never fight a teleport."  
  
Who? He tried to focus, but couldn't get anything but an orangey-brown blur.  
  
"Easy. You've had a rough time." He spoke again, this time more quiet and calming. He sounded vaguely like the man from the speaker at the..  
  
"Police..." he managed to say.  
  
"No, they're gone now, Andy."  
  
A sensation of utter relief swept over his body, and he felt his strength returning to him. It was a dream after all. But if this was a dream…who was…  
  
"The Police have been tricked into thinking you were the perpetrator of the kidnapping. I saw it though, and I evaded the real kidnappers' psychic manipulations."  
  
"psychic…"  
  
"Manipulations. They used their Pokemon's psychic Powers to make the crowd see you taking the two boys away, instead of them. They also masked the spot on the ground where one of them had thrown that Pokeball, intending to come back for it. I got it though, and the one you dropped."  
  
"OMANYTE!" Andy sprung to life. It was the strangest feeling to him, being that connected to something he had only known for a few hours, but it rejuvenated him.  
  
"He's okay, and so's that Snorlax. I'm Johannes." Andy wiped his eyes, and could now make out the shape of the older man, who was extending his hand for Andy to shake.  
  
"Andy." He shook the man's hand, and tried to stand up, but felt wobbly and fell backwards onto the couch.  
  
"Take it easy. Your first teleport is always the hardest."  
  
"What….What happened?"  
  
"From the beginning?"  
  
"I…Guess…"  
  
"Well, sit back and relax. It's a long one." 


	8. Oh... (Johannes Explains it All.)

"About four or five years ago, a few scientists from here in Viridian…"  
  
"Viridian?"  
  
"That's where you are. Viridian City."  
  
"mm."  
  
"A few scientists from here started work on…no, I have to go back even further."  
  
"…"  
  
"Okay, here's how it goes. About thirty years ago, there was a huge construction effort to build a walking path through the Viridian Forest. You know anything about that?"  
  
"The forest or the construction?"  
  
"Either."  
  
"I know where the forest is, though I've never been through it. I never heard anything about the construction project."  
  
"Hey, you want some coffee or something?"  
  
"No…no, yeah. Yeah I'll have some."  
  
'I get cranky if I don't have a cup every once in a while. It might make you feel better. I know you're still kinda shaken from the 'port."  
  
"…"  
  
"The teleport."  
  
Andy nodded his head, as the older man went to the coffee pot and poured two cups.  
  
"Anyway," he continued "They did this whole construction thing where they tore down paths through the forest, and they found what looked like remnants of a shrine, just like the one they found in the Ilex Forest last year."  
  
Andy cocked his head slightly.  
  
"Ilex. It's in Johto."  
  
"ahh." Andy replied. Almost nobody from Kanto had ever been to Johto, and likewise the other way around, as there was no viable path between the two continents. Andy had heard news stories from there, and every once in a while some trainer would brave the mountains and sea that separate Andy's home continent from the mysterious Johto.  
  
"So they translate all these messages on fragments of tablets and pottery and things, and they all talk about a 'protector.' A cat-like creature with amazing powers, who can do practically anything, and who protects the other inhabitants of the forest."  
  
"…Snorlax?!"  
  
"That's what we thought. Rather…okay, I'm back to where I was when I started. 'Bout four or five years ago, a genetic researcher named Michael did some work on the evolution of Snorlax."  
  
"Snorlax evolves?"  
  
"No, but as a species it HAS evolved. They used to be fairly small, a long long time ago."  
  
"whoa."  
  
"And a smaller Snorlax could almost resemble the pictures that we could piece together of this 'protector.' They're very versatile, and extremely powerful, and certainly cat-like."  
  
"so…"  
  
"So a team of scientists from here in the city…myself, a man named Kurt, another man named Giovanni, and a woman named Delia, all set out to capture a Snorlax."  
  
"What were you going to do with it?"  
  
"The first one, we took a sample of its DNA and let it go."  
  
"The first one?"  
  
"The first one. The second one…"  
  
"Wait, why would you need more than one?"  
  
"The tests on the first one's DNA were inconclusive."  
  
"What exactly were you testing for?"  
  
"We wanted to see if the power of these Pokemon was a limitless as the legendary creature."  
  
"And it isn't?"  
  
"It can get close, but it requires intense concentration on the Snorlax's part."  
  
"But that's not what you were looking for?"  
  
"No. The legends all tell of the 'protector' using psychic abilities. We were unable to find any psychic tendencies in any of the Snorlaxes we tested."  
  
"ANY? How many did you take?"  
  
"…"  
  
"…"  
  
"thirty."  
  
"THIRTY?!"  
  
"We thought we had something, okay? This could have been the scientific breakthrough of the century! The discovery that Pokmeon not only evolve physically, but their powers evolve too. If we could find any traces of psychic abilities in Snorlaxes…"  
  
"But I mean, everyone says they're endangered. I didn't even think there were thirty Snorlaxes…at all!"  
  
"There aren't."  
  
"…what…huh?"  
  
"cloning."  
  
"you're kidding."  
  
"no. I was gone by the time they did the bulk of it…"  
  
"cloning?!"  
  
"In my day, Andy…I was an expert on capturing Pokemon. I knew how many times to hit them, how to weaken them to the exact point where they could be captured. We had this guy, Kurt. He made his own pokeballs. He MADE them. We had the best possible conditions for capturing those Pokemon, but they were just too strong."  
  
"So what happened…"  
  
"to the other 29? A few escaped. The rest…"  
  
"…"  
  
"We…we didn't clone them properly. They died."  
  
"oh…god."  
  
"This one though…" Johannes reached into his pocket and pulled out a Pokeball. It was the one with a "B" crudely scratched into it that Drew had tossed to Andy. "This one's amazing. Test Subject B. We taught him to use Psychic. He's unbelievably powerful. Healthy as anything, too." Andy looked at the ball in Johannes's hand, and remembered seeing the Snorlax in action.  
  
"Okay, so who were those people who attacked Drew and Lance?"  
  
"Those were members of Giovanni's lab team. Andy, he's become obsessed with psychic powers."  
  
"Obsesseed?"  
  
"He was after that Snorlax…this Snorlax. He thinks he can harness its psychic abilities. He's gone crazy capturing Abras and Drowzees and Jynxes, and he is still trying to unlock the mystery of the forest's protector. Delia…she loved him. She left the group and moved…and nobody has heard from her. Kurt said he was going to try and get to Johto. I…I'm mildly psychic myself. I couldn't stay and risk Giovanni finding out. That's how I knew your name, Andy."  
  
"But what happened? I mean…how did they…trick people?"  
  
"Psychic energy is incredibly powerful, Andy. That's why Giovanni is so enamoured with it. If you can attack…or even control…someone's mind…that's the worst way you can hurt them. They swept over the crowd with a wave of Psychic energy…part hypnosis, part Psybeam…and everyone saw YOU sending Drew and Lance off in that sphere, and being tripped by an onlooker. You dropped your Pokeballs in pain, and they psychically masked the area where they fell, probably intending to go back for them."  
  
"But how did you…"  
  
"I'm mildly psychic, remember? I sensed it coming, and was able to shield myself from the attack. As for your legs? That was a Disable attack from a Drowzee. It wore off after a while, but you saw how powerful psychic energy can be, even from a low-level Pokemon."  
  
"Okay. So…what do we do?"  
  
"We…do nothing, Andy. I'm too old, and my Psychic power isn't anywhere near formidable enough to take on Giovanni. He's building an army, Andy. He's recruiting people to join his team as we speak. He wants power."  
  
"But if you can't…"  
  
"…"  
  
"…no…no no no…"  
  
"you, Andy. You have to."  
  
"I've been a Pokemon trainer for an HOUR, Johannes. ONE HOUR."  
  
"It doesn't matter." He glanced at his right hand…the hand that was holding the Snorlax's pokeball, and he tossed the ball to Andy. "This is yours. So's this one." He reached into his pocket and pulled out another pokeball, presumably Andy's Omanyte. "You guys get strong. Battle Gym Leaders, build your team. Keep in mind that there will be a confrontation with Giovanni at the end of your training."  
  
"But…the police…"  
  
"I'm sending you to Johto."  
  
Andy froze in his seat, a look of shock on his face.  
  
"I'd never make it through the mountains…" he cut off his statement, and looked down at the pokeball in his hand. "…would I?"  
  
"No. Not even with your new buddy. I'm going to teleport you."  
  
Andy took a deep breath, and stood up, collecting the other Pokeball from the old man's hand.  
  
"Relax. If you know it's coming, it doesn't hurt." The old man walked over to the counter and picked up another Pokeball, and dropped it to the ground. "Abra, I need another favor. I know it hurts to do it when you're not attached, and I can't send you with him in case Giovanni finds me, but I need you to get Andy to Johto."  
  
"rrrrrrraaaah"  
  
"I know you can do it. Concentrate, Abra. Johto. You ready Andy?"  
  
Andy nodded, and Abra began to levitate itself above the ground.  
  
"Aaaaaabbbb"  
  
Its arms began to wiggle slightly…and its legs followed suit…  
  
"AaaaaaaaBBBBBRRRR"  
  
Its limbs began to spasm, and Andy grew a very concerned look on his face, but just as he was about to reach for the Pokemon..  
  
"AAAAAA"  
  
"…"  
  
"…"  
  
"…good luck."  
  
"…"  
  
It didn't feel so bad this time. 


End file.
